Homeland Recap: Heart and Issa's Soul

This week on Showtime’s Homeland, Abu Nazir “called” on Brody for one last favor, Estes put Saul in his place and Walden’s run for the White House took a surprising turn.

So, the legendary black ops boss that Quinn rendezvoused with on the bus last week, Dar Adul? Saul knows him, and better yet knows where he likes to wolf down waffles. As such, he checks in on Dar Adul, asking why he’s meeting with Quinn on the sly. “Peter Quinn is one of mine,” Dar Adul explains. But why would Estes put a black ops guy on a straight-up intel op? “Maybe to keep his eye on you,” Adul taunts his peer. “Maybe he doesn’t trust you?”

At the Posh Safehouse 3000, Mike is all awkward “about last night,” while Jess is totally, “I loved it — it was fun… I keep waiting to feel guilty.” (And yet probably never will!) They convene a new session of necking but get interrupted by Brody, then blank-faced, homework-hating Chris and scowly, hand-wrenching Dana. Jess asks Brody when they can go home, saying that the kids are going “stir crazy… So am I.” “I noticed,” Brody responds, in a way that barely leaves off the words “…you’re shtupping my bestie again.” Just as Jess says she knows that Carrie is back in the mix, ol’ blondie herself rings Brody, saying that he needs to resign from office and give Walden the bad word that he wont be his veep.

And then Carrie’s car get broadsided, Michael Vaughn-style.

At Langley, Saul confronts Estes with what he has learned about Quinn, and suggests that the black ops vet was brought in to insure that when all is said and done with Operation Abu Nazir, Brody won’t blab about the top-secret drone strike. “F–k you, Saul,” Estes responds. Quinn then shows up to report on Carrie’s accident… and subsequent vanishing.

Back at the Posh Safehouse 3000, Brody and Jess are managing a very intense “Finn wants to visit Dana, who’s been dodging his texts” sitch when Brody gets a call from, no, not Carrie per se, but Abu Nazir, who has his estranged padawan’s honey bound and gagged. His ransom: Fetch me the serial number for Walden’s pacemaker. Rather than loop in the spooks on this communique — on the off chance they could, like, track it and such, and catch Earth’s Most Wanted — Brody agrees to go rogue and poke around Walden’s residence. Carrie meanwhile engages Nazir in a debate of ideologies, starting and ending with her labeling him a terrorist. “I’m a soldier,” he contends. He and his people “carry God in our hearts, in our souls…. To die is to join him. It may take a century… or three, but we will exterminate you,” he asserts.

Finn wants to start over with Dana, but she says the accident and cover-up “killed it” just as they killed that lady. (Is this storyline going anywhere?)

With the stealth of a twitchy meth addict hopped up on 5-Hour Energy, Brody snoops around Walden’s office, finally locating the case for his pacemaker. He phones Nazir to say he has the serial number — but Carrie must first be set free. After Brody swears on Issa’s “immortal soul” that he’ll keep up his end of the trade, Nazir lets Carrie go. As Brody texts him the number (which in turn gets forwarded to Nazir’s IT guy), Carrie flags down a trucker, liberates him of his cell and rings Saul & Co. They set out to swarm the place she was being held, but Saul gets detained downstairs after Estes makes a cryptic phone call — while Quinn forges on with the rest of the team. Carrie circles back to the warehouse, wielding a steel pipe, and is last seen wandering into a dark, scary room….

Walden walks in on Brody, who informs the VP that he can’t be part of the ticket, citing “family reasons.” “F–k your family,” Walden coldly responds. “You don’t walk away from [a VP bid]!” Witnessing that Nazir’s peeps are starting to turn Walden’s ticker against him, Brody drops every bit of veneer and vents his hatred for the politician who OK’d the drone strike. “It’s for me” that he’s bowing out. “To feel clean again.” As Walden goes into the final throes of a heart attack — and as Brody pushes the phone out of his reach — the congressman-slash-terrorist snarls, “You still don’t get it, do you? I’m killing you.” (Hey, Arrow can do more flashbacks now!)

What did you think of this week’s Homeland and its bit of “terrorism via artificial heart attack”? Could Brody have bellowed Nazir’s name any louder just down the hall from the Secret Service detail at the Posh Safehouse 3000? How does Brody not get fingered for the VP’s death? (Won’t Carrie’s story of escape have to incriminate him? And if there’s a whiff of foul play, whose mitts were fumbling all over the pacemaker case?) Does Dana own a second pair of shoes?

Ok, first, I hope I can remember what I was typing because my stinking phone died while I was typing this comment the first time. Bah! I know, first world problems. Second, my jaw hurts from clenching my teeth during that episode. I kept thinking that Walden was going to walk in on Brody while he was yelling at Nazir (great soundproofing in that room btw!) I was really hoping Brody wouldn’t go through with killing Walden, and thought maybe he would see him in pain, but then save him at the last minute. But the moment Walden spit “f*ck your family” in his face, I knew his fare was sealed. Dude was seriously a world-class douche. Now I’m wondering if Carrie will cover this up for Brody. Once she hears Walden is dead, she will know Brody gave him the number. I do find it odd that she didn’t me toon anything to Saul. I kept expecting her to say “Brody was still on the phone with him when he let me go” or “aren’t you tracing Nazir’s location from Brody’s phone?” There’s just something weird about her not mentioning Brody at all. “Brody said he wouldn’t give him the number until I was released”….something, just something.

Is it wrong that I want Estes dead now?? I mean what is the plan here? is it that simple that he wants Brody dead? And good god….please tell me he’s the mole! How in the world did Nazir know where that machine was in Walden’s office?? Did he pay off a maid or something?? Thank god they had Brody take that one moment to recognize what the audience says each week!! And how clueless is Brody’s family? I mean the man had a full-on FREAK OUT after getting a call, and they all just stand there looking at him like he’s walking around naked or something. Even Chris with the cards question! WTH?? And I still am not a fan if Jessica…..(love you Morena! Browncoat forever!) but seriously, I wish there was more to her character!

The thing is the show would stretch its craziness well. We would have a WTF moment every several episodes, as opposed to having several WTF moments in every episode. Also, the WTF moments would usually be key plot points that move the show along. Now, they’re there for the sake of being there. And the writers have lost a grip on what made this series work in the first place.

Completely disagree. Unless ‘what made the series work in the first place’ is that we did not know whether Brody was good or bad. In which case – they couldn’t exactly keep their grip on it. The only possible exception I can see is Dana and Finn’s accident – which I’m still hopeful will actually have a pertinent point, because clearly it doesn’t yet.

I think the point of the hit and run was to ruin the Dana and Brody relationship. I’m not sure what’s going to happen exactly but it definitely seems like the next two episodes are going to use that. Hopefully by killing off Brody’s family while he is trying to save Carrie or something like that.

I disagree on that point as well. I will give you that the hit and run storyline was ridiculous, but I think the writers are some pretty bad-ass rulebreakers and are completely making it work. In some ways I think it’s better than the first season. I also think they’ve already sealed up at least 4 Emmy wins for next year. (Actress, Actor, Drama series, and Drama writing). It’s been quite the roller coaster this year.

Actually, a spinoff of Valerie Cruz being the CIA officer brought in to manage the Brodys’ security (because apparently the CIA does that). Her small bits where she’s just like “Jesus… what did I do to get stuck with these people” were hilarious.

In other news, the plot was nonsensical and more hole-y than swiss cheese. And Carrie, again is an idiot. I’d be cool with Carrie dying, to be honest, because she would have asked for it. Running back into the mill, really?

Hmm, how to sum up that episode? Moral and ethical questions abounded. Brody did something terrible to save Carrie’s life, had a moment where he thought about doing the right thing after Carrie was safe, but did said terrible thing anyway, and loved every minute of it. Also, in the process probably saved his own life without realizing it, because I’m guessing Estes will call off the hit on Brody since there is no reason to keep the drone strike a secret anymore.
.
Estes proved he would spare no innocent soul in order to save the V.P.’s reputation, including taking down sweet and compassionate Saul. Estes needs to die. I’ve decided it.
.
Carrie, interestingly enough, made no mention of the threat against Walden when on the phone with Saul. She was so laser focused on Abu Nazir it apparently slipped her mind to bring that up. I can’t decide if she did this as a conscious move to keep Brody out of suspicion’s eye and because she didn’t really think Walden was worth saving, or if it was entirely subconscious to save Brody from a life in prison. Will she be able to forgive herself for doing that? Will she be able to forgive Brody for his sudden dark turn? Things seem like they’re about to get tragic for our doomed lovers. Broken Hearts indeed. Just two episodes left….[sigh].
.
Brody better hope there were no cameras in that office. And I do think Carrie is going to cover for him. That’s a plot point I’ve been expecting to see ever since last season. It’s really hard not to root for Brody even when he’s doing bad things, and I actually do hope Carrie covers for him. The fact that he’s gotten so dark just makes him more interesting to me, because, you know…I’m one of those annoying girls who likes damaged guys because I think I can fix them.
.
I feel a huge sense of relief because after tonight I now know without a doubt that Brody was never lying or screwing over Carrie after he got turned by the CIA. There were times when I wondered, especially after last week, but there’s no way now. The guy freaked out when Carrie was kidnapped, and obviously Nazir wouldn’t have taken her if he and Brody had had some secret plan they were working on behind the CIA’s back. And whoever the mole is sure knows about their romantic relationship! I’m sure the bugged hotel room had a lot to do with that. We better find out who this damn mole is next week.

I did have an “ugh” moment when they brought back Finn to discuss the car accident, but I think they just needed to reintroduce him into Dana’s life because Finn is about to have a very bad day, and Brody will need to see the aftermath of what he’s done. That’s going to make him very conflicted over his actions to see a child mourn his father.

I’m sorry this was so long. I had a lot to process about this episode, as it was a pretty major one. Your reviews are great, Matt, thank you for doing them. I know we are a small crowd who like to read about and discuss Homeland, so I am very appreciative you keep these up every week for us.

Just last week I was saying that I didn’t know how Brody could survive this season. Now, that’s a way to do it. The CIA will find out that Brody killed the VP (There must be cameras in that office, right?) and then the only thing between him and Guantanamo will be Carrie that is aiding a terrorist. They will both be on the run with Saul and Quinn trying to catch them with the idea that neither of them really wants to put Carrie in prison.
Or not. I’m always wrong when it comes to Homeland and I love that I am ;).
Wonder why Saul was detained. My guess is that Estes plans to kill Nazir, no questions asked (the drone strike thing could get out) but Saul is “sensitive” and would probably oppose it.

I have never even noticed Dana’s shoes…apparently because my eyes are focused on the long sweater she has worn the whole season! Are my daughter and I the only ones that are literally screaming at the tv while watching this show?! “Carrie, look BOTH ways while going through an intersection!” Damn, that jazz music must be pretty powerful to make a CIA agent forget the rules of the road!

Here’s what I think:
1-The whole episode was great
2- Probably, Saul is the mole
3- They have to choose a new VP. I bet it will be Brody and it will save his life… for season 3, at least.
4. At the end, Brody will have to die. So far he’s killed three people in cold blood. The man’s a killer.

You are the biggest baddie in the world, and everyone is after you. You’ve already managed to evade EVERY government authority in the US by sneaking into the country (which doesn’t seem to bother the CIA as much as it should…). What do you do? Go shopping at a local convenience store, which you’ve visited around the time you decide to kidnap the most special agent in the CIA (who’s so special she’s not even IN the CIA), with nary a disguise, completely in the open, no worries about cameras or ANYTHING.

Yes, that sounds perfectly. reasonable. Just like it was perfectly reasonable for Carrie to walk back IN to the factory and expect Big Baddie to just be hanging out and waiting to be pummeled by a cold steel pipe.

Now that VP Walden is dead, do we finally get to see other members of this cabinet? What’s the line of succession here? Does Secretary of State take VP duty? Or is it Speaker of the House? Or will the writers of “Homeland” rewrite the Constitution and install someone else in the spot? I’m genuinely curious about these things.

And the true strength of this show remains Damian Lewis and Claire Danes – even WHEN Carrie makes dumb decisions. I finally feel a little better for Chris Brody – he got some legit lines this time, got more than a one-scene cameo AND, most importantly, A CHARACTER IN THE SHOW GENUINELY CARES ABOUT HIM! Aww, good ol’ Uncle Mike.

Anyway, great episode. My favourite part was the conversation between Carrie and Nazir. This woman is amazing, she goes and instead of waiting for the CIA to arrive she gets inside that place again. I have been thinking for several episodes Brody will die but maybe there’s a turn in the last episodes because what if they don’t catch Nazir? He’ll try to make a big attack for sure, he was clear about what he and his people think about not only the USA but also the occidental world.

Weird that I am reading comments on here of people complaining about Homeland and talking about quitting the show. I was watching last night holding my breath and thinking this show is like “24” times 10. Riveting. Keep up the great work, Homeland!

Side note: you can tell how intense the scene is by counting the number of parentheses around Brody’s mouth. I think he had 5 sets of mouth parentheses in that pacemaker scene.